Blog

Quaker Connections: Doan’s Kidney Pills

Doan’s Kidney Pills, a widely used brand of pills that gained popularity throughout the United States and Britain in the early twentieth century, claimed Canadian Quaker origins in their advertising. The pills were said to help a number of ‘female complaints,’ including kidney disease, back pain, nervousness, headaches, and restlessness. A 1902 advertisement for the pills in the Weston-super-Mare Gazette (Somerset, EN) stated, “You can be well, if you will treat the cause, as the Quakers did, and cure the kidneys.”[1] The pills were created Read more

By Sydney Harker, ago

Elizabeth Robson’s Visit to Upper Canada, 1824–25

In the 1820s, North American Quakers were locked in disputes that divided the Religious Society of Friends in the Hicksite-Orthodox Separation of 1827–28. In the years preceding the separation, several influential English Quaker ministers—especially women—dedicated themselves to travelling throughout North America trying to correct what they saw as the flawed doctrine espoused by Friends known as Hicksites. The Hicksites were not followers of the Long Island Quaker minister Elias Hicks (1748–1830) who had traveled throughout the North American meetings in the early nineteenth century critiquing Read more

By Robynne Rogers Healey, ago

Canadian Quaker Highlight: Frank Miles

We are excited to share this guest post from Cathy Miles Grant about her father, Frank Miles. An American citizen at the time he served with the Friends Ambulance Unit in China, Frank Miles was naturalized Canadian after he and his wife Pat Miles moved to Canada in 1974. He served as General Secretary for Canadian Yearly Meeting from 1983 to 1989. Service, Spiritual Gifts, and the 1993 Sunderland P. Gardner Lecture: Tapping reflections from a former volunteer with the Friends Ambulance Unit in China Read more

By CFHA, ago

Argenta: An Intentional Canadian Quaker Community

In 1961 MacLean’s, a Canadian news magazine, published John Gray’s article titled “How Seven Families Really Got Away from it All.” The article introduced Canadians and other readers of MacLean’s to the Quaker community of Argenta in the west Kootenay region of British Columbia. A group of American Quakers settled in the Argenta region in the early 1950s. Friends continue to make up a significant proportion of Argenta’s population today. CFHA member June Pollard has family connections to the Argenta community and has provided a Read more

By CFHA, ago

New to the Website

A few new changes have come to CFHA’s website. Our events page has been updated with more information about Friendly Fridays. These free sessions are ongoing and new participants are always welcome! If you’re interested in attending a Friendly Fridays session and delving into the journal of George Fox, you can find more information and register on our events page. We also have a new donate page, which now lists three different options for donation. CFHA receives the support of many members and individuals who volunteer Read more

By Sydney Harker, ago

Founders and Builders Series: David L. Newlands

In this month’s Founders and Builders Series, we introduce you to David L. Newlands, an early member of CFHA and a dedicated advocate for Quaker heritage in Canada. David has held various roles in the CFHA and has contributed numerous publications to the Canadian Quaker History Journal.  David L. Newlands By Gordon Thompson David Livingstone Newlands was born on 25 July 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second son of Margaret (nee McCutcheon) and David Newlands. Margaret’s family and her older siblings had emigrated from Scotland Read more

By CFHA, ago

Our Enduring Heritage: Yonge Street Friends Burial Ground, Newmarket, Ontario

Quakers in the Thirteen Colonies During the 1770s Quakers living in North America had large families and, like many settlers at that time, found that land for younger family members was becoming scarce and expensive. So began the great westward migration. During and after the American Revolution, Quakers found themselves in a precarious position. Both the British forces and the American rebels and were suspicious of where the Quakers’ affiliations lay, since the Quaker Testimony Against War led them to refuse to bear arms or Read more

By Evelyn Schmitz-Hertzberg, ago

Friends Historical Library Provides Minute Book Images

Canadian Friends Historical Association (CFHA) is pleased to announce the latest collaboration with Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. Arrangements are now in place for staff at Friends Historical Library to provide CFHA with digital images of three late eighteenth-century minute books for transcription. All of these minute books relate to the Nine Partners Monthly Meeting and its affiliated Oswego Preparative Meeting. The Nine Partners MM, the Nine Partners school and associated Preparative meetings figure prominently in the northward expansion of Quaker communities up Read more

By Gordon Thompson, ago

March Co-Chair Update

Dear Members of CFHA: The following is a report and update on the activity of the Executive Committee and members during the recent months. We hope you find this information encouraging, for although Covid-19 may have altered our patterns, our work has been progressing well. We invite your comments and questions on the information provided below. Many of you participated in our Annual General Meeting presentation featuring Ben Pink Dandelion and Steven Angell in 9th month 2020. By virtue of Zoom technology, we were able Read more

By Gordon Thompson, ago

Save the Date: Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists to be Held Online

The biennial Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists (CQHA) will take place virtually this year between June 24–26. Operating with the support of the Friends Historical Association, the CQHA focuses on the history of Quakers and Quakerism. This year’s conference will be free for all to attend. Registration will open by the end of March, though you can check the CQHA website for updates on registration and program details. The 2018 conference, held at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, featured excellent presentations on diverse topics Read more

By CFHA, ago